Britain stops Brussels bid to halt deportations

Britain today successfully blocked plans by Brussels to halt the deportation of failed asylum seekers to other European countries.

A draft agreement at the summit allowed for an emergency suspension of rules that allow people whose claims are unfounded to be sent back to the country where they first applied.

Had the change gone through, Britain would have been effectively powerless to expel tens of thousands of economic migrants who come to London in search of jobs while claiming falsely to be refugees seeking protection from persecution.

David Cameron joined Angela Merkel of Germany and Nicolas Sarkozy of France to have the words removed from the summit communiqué. The success followed Mr Cameron's victory last night in blocking attempts to make Britain pay into the next Greek economic bailout.

However, tensions remain in the European borders and immigration system after an influx of migrants that has overwhelmed outlying countries. France has threatened to reimpose independent border controls with Italy after 25,000 Tunisians were given residency by the Italians.

They had swept in during the uprising and applied for asylum. Most moved to France where job prospects are better for those given residency rights, which include free movement in the EU.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, has warned of a "humanitarian crisis" after visiting overcrowded Greek camps for illegal migrants who were caught crossing from Turkey.

Britain is currently banned by the courts on human rights grounds from deporting people to Greece because of appalling overcrowding.A British official said: "We have averted a bad rule but there are still problems across Europe."

An illegal immigrant travelled into Britain on the same Eurostar train as Home Secretary Theresa May returning from a check of border controls.

The Moroccan man, in his twenties, was refused entry to the country by UK Border Agency officers at St Pancras on June 6. The Cabinet minister had been to Calais to see inspection points to stop illegal immigrants sneaking into Britain from France.